Some of us have felt the powerlessness in retirement, where one day we’ve got power over people and processes, and then the next day, this power is given over to someone younger.

Some of us have felt the powerlessness during poor health, where one day we’re running around a field, or carrying bags of groceries, or just tying your shoelaces, and then the next day we’re confined to crutches, or bedrest, or told about the medical condition that will now define our future.

Some of us have experienced powerlessness through abuse, where one day we’re young and free, able to make choices about life and actions, and then the next day your spouse takes away your power to contact friends, or spend money, or make simple choices.

So, we cry out to God to ask him to fix this world that suffers so much from the powerlessness of loss and sickness and abuse, and as we pray, God shows us the very thing that has the power to change everything.

It’s the power that is summed up in the simple phrase, “Jesus is Lord”, and it’s the power that transforms lives in this life, and in the life that is to come.

Romans chapter 1 verse 16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

For, as people hear the gospel of Jesus, and believe in him as Lord and Saviour, then hope comes from the power of the gospel to bring true forgiveness and genuine reconciliation.

This side of Heaven we won’t enjoy the full peace that we await, but we will have real hope in the real Jesus as we await his return or our going to be with him.